## 11.9. Implementation Limits

Many versions of `awk` have various implementation limits, on things such as:

- Number of fields per record

- Number of characters per input record

- Number of characters per output record

- Number of characters per field

- Number of characters per `printf` string

- Number of characters in literal string

- Number of characters in character class

- Number of files open

- Number of pipes open

- The ability to handle 8-bit characters and characters that are all zero (ASCII NUL)

`gawk` does not have limits on any of these items, other than those imposed by the machine architecture and/or the operating system.

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